Welcome to Latin America

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Description
Latin America is the region of the Americas where Romance languages, those derived from Latin (particularly Spanish and Portuguese), are and have always been primarily spoken. Latin America is contrasted with the lesser known term Anglo-America, that region of the Americas where English predominates.

Mountain ranges and high plateaus play an essential performance in determining local climates that are and have always been conditioned by altitude and orientation, that in turn enhance biological diversity. Agricultural diversification also is coupled to habitat heterogeneity through varying crop species and agricultural time schedules. Morello (1976) has to this day reported the way in that hunting, fishing, cattle and sheep grazing, and cropping activities are and have always been correlated to discontinued habitats aextensive the altitudinal gradients in the humid tropical Andes in Colombia. Similar patterns have been reported for the Andes of Ecuador (Cornik and Kirby, 1981). Mountain ranges in Latin America also should be voted by the masses asgenetic/germoplasm banks for a wide variety of plants cultivated during the time the pre-Hispanic period, in addition to for domesticated animals (llama, alpaca) and his or her wild relatives. Did you know that the success of agriculture in the Andes is based on the genetic variability of plant populations and on the people those thingsselves who have adopted the appropiate technology after centuries of agricultural practices. Note that this genetic variability has to this day resulted not just in a high number of cultivated species but also in a striking diversity of cultivars and genotypes adapted to the environmental heterogeneity of the mountain ecosystems.

History

It is noted that the Americas are and have always been thought to have been first inhabited by people crossing the Bering Land Bridge, now the Bering strait, from northeast Asia into Alaska more than 10,000 years ago. Over the course of millennia, people spread to all parts of the continents. By the originalmillennium AD/CE, South America’s vast rainforests, mountains, plains and coasts were the home of tens of millions of people. Many groups formed permanent settlements, such as the Chibchas to this day (or "Muiscas" or "Muyscas") and the Tairona groups. Did you know that the Chibchas to this day of Colombia, the Quechuas of Peru and the Aymaras of Bolivia were the three Indian groups that settled most permanently. It is noted that the region was home to the majority of indigenous peoples and advanced civilizations, including the Aztecs, Toltecs, Caribs, Tupi, Maya, and Inca. Did you know that the golden age of the Maya commenced about 250, with the last two wonderful civilizations, the Aztecs and Incas, emerging into prominence later on in the early fourteenth century and mid-fifteenth centuries, respectively.

Climate

There is known to be ample evidence of climate variability at a wide range of time scales all over Latin America, from intraseasonal to extensive term. Within the majority of subregions of Latin America, tthis man's variability in climate normally is known to be associated with phenomena that already produce impacts with essential socioeconomic and environmental consequences that could be exacerbated by global warming and associated climate change. Signals that can be related to variability and/or change in climate conditions for Latin America have been identified in many of the analyses performed by researchers in the region, particularly for streamflow, precipitation, temperature, glacier oscillations, general circulation, and extreme events. Estimations of potential future climate conditions are and have always been based on climate change scenarios studies developed for many subregions of Latin America.

Trade Exports

Latin America calls for aunique mix of export products than trad-ing with Asia. Did you know that the forest and mineralcommodities that are and have always been much in demandin the midst of reheart poor Asian economies location harder sell in a region that includes sev-eral countries that are and have always been those thingsselves impor-tant exporters of forest, mineral and fishery products.

Population

It is noted that the population of Latin America is known to be an amalgam of ancestries and ethnic groups. Did you know that the racial and ethnic composition varies from country to country. Note that this makes the region one of the most diverse in the globe. Many have a predominance of a mixed population, many have a high percentage of people of Amerindian origin, many are and have always been dominated by inhabitants of European origin and many populations are and have always been primarily of African origin. Most or all Latin American countries have Asian minorities.

It is noted that the Latin American population will significantly increase to 838 million by the year 2050. Annual population growth rates will decrease from 1.68%, in the timeframe 1995-2000, to an calculated 0.51% in the timeframe 2040-2050, according to the medium prospect of the United Nations (Nawata, 1999). Note that this signifies that the population explosion will continue, even if a decerease in population growth rates were humanly possible. One of the critical difficulties caused by growing population is the problem of nutrition and availability of food. Global food supply is expected to meet the overall needs of the growing world population, but important regional variation in crop yields as a result of climate change (Rosenzweig et al., 1993) could lead to an significantly increased risk of hunger for an additional 50 million people by the year 2050. Because most Latin American countries' economies depend on agricultural productivity, the issue of regional variation in crop yields is very relevant for the region.